THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome.
Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Dennis Hopper rides into the sunset (what's the Canadian Connection ?)

Dennis Hopper's Canadian connection is this , the idea & screenplay were thought up & written in a Toronto Motel Room....for the movie "Easy Rider"

May 29, 2010, 2:56 pm

Dennis Hopper, Actor and Iconoclast, Dies

Everett CollectionDennis Hopper, in the film “Easy Rider,” which he directed, edited and starred in.

3:19 p.m. | Updated Dennis Hopper, whose portrayals of drug-addled, often deranged misfits in the landmark films “Easy Rider,”“Apocalypse Now” and “Blue Velvet” drew on his early out-of-control experiences as part of a new generation of Hollywood rebel, died at his home in Venice, Calif., on Saturday. He was 74.

Mr. Hopper, who said he stopped drinking and using drugs in the mid-1980s, followed that change with a tireless phase of his career in which he claimed to have turned down no parts. His credits include at least six films released in 2008 and at least 25 over the past 10 years.

Most recently, Mr. Hopper starred in the television series “Crash,” an adaptation of the Oscar-winning film of the same title. Produced for the Starz cable channel, the show had Mr. Hopper portraying a music producer unhinged by years of drug use. During a promotional tour last fall for that series, he fell ill; shortly thereafter, he began a new round of treatments for prostate cancer, which he said was first diagnosed a decade ago.

Inverting a famous line of dialogue spoken by Peter Fonda in “Easy Rider,” Manohla Dargis wrote of Mr. Hopper in The New York Times:

Dennis Hopper — actor, filmmaker, photographer, art collector, world-class burnout, first-rate survivor — never blew it. Unlike the villains and freaks he has played over the decades — the psycho with the mommy complex in “Blue Velvet,” the mad bomber with the grudge in “Speed” — he has made it through the good, the bad and some spectacularly terrible times. He rode out the golden age of Hollywood by roaring into a new movie era with “Easy Rider.” He hung out with James Dean, played Elizabeth Taylor’s son, acted for Quentin Tarantino. He has been rich and infamous, lost and found, the next big thing, the last man standing.

This footage has some fantastic colours in the sky, very well filmed, & the song that plays is a great one too,by 'the band' the Weight. Sorry bu they have disonnected the embed code for this one, so if you want to see it, click on the link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkmbLoaORU -HF&RV-

Considering it was made in the late 60's It was well done.Dennis Hopper wanted something done that refelected some of te things that were hapenning then. As the article mentioned,about the movie, they set out to 'find' America,and couldn't find it. HF&RV

These are some 'Easy Rider' facts as published in the Montreal Gazette from the Reuters news group:

Following are some key facts about Easy Rider, the groundbreaking 1969 biker film directed by Dennis Hopper. Hopper played Billy, alongside Peter Fonda as Wyatt, aka Captain America.

- Fonda came up with the idea while drinking beer and smoking marijuana in a Toronto motel room. He immediately called Hopper in the middle of the night, and proposed they both write and star, that Hopper direct and he produce.

- Hopper viewed the story - two drug-dealing bikers who ride their Harley-Davidsons across the country to Mardi Gras, and are then shot by rednecks - as a fable about how pursuers of the American dream lose sight of their freedom.

- The script was credited to Fonda, Hopper and influential writer Terry Southern, although they bitterly argued about who was responsible for the final product.

- Hopper and Fonda, who also argued about profit-sharing, started the production as friends and ended it as feuding enemies.

- Hopper was reluctant to cast the unknown Jack Nicholson as the alcoholic lawyer because he wanted someone with an authentic Texan accent.

- Hopper claimed in 1994 that he had fired Rip Torn from the role ultimately played by Nicholson, because Torn had pulled a knife on him. Torn sued Hopper for defamation, and won a $475,000 judgment.

- The film was budgeted at about $360,000, funded by windfall profits from the duo behind The Monkees. Hopper said it made its money back in one week, from one theatre.

- The marijuana the characters smoked on screen was authentic, high-quality product that had a quick effect. ---HF&RV--

one other Canadian Connection is that a few of the songs used in this film,including the "Born to be Wild' theme was written by a combination of Canadian & American guys in Toronto ,Steppenwolf,was origianlly a blues/rock band named the Sparrows ?? or something like that,but became Steppenwolf..and their song is as well known today as it was for our generation in the 60's...... Cheers ! HF&RV

This is a bit funny ,at the Lifetime Achievement Awards for Jack Nicholson, Denis Hopper & Peter Fonda do a tribute to their friend Jack.......somehow old Peter still comes across like he moght still be dabbling with the giggle smoke................what do you think? lol